Xolani Koyana
“I HEARD screaming, then the woman hit the ground. Her daughter was standing on the edge screaming and I told her that she must get away from there because she might fall. The woman was just lying there. It was scary,” said a Bo-Kaap homeless man, who only identified himself as Arthur.
He was witness to the fatal mugging of Red Hot Chili Peppers fan Dawnsy Mieny, killed when she plunged about 20m into the Strand Street Quarry on Tuesday night on her way to their concert.
F
rom Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape, Mieny had come to Cape Town last Friday to watch the band and Die Antwoord perform at the Cape Town Stadium. She had been staying with her daughter who is studying in the city.
The pair had been walking to the concert when they were attacked, resulting in Mieny falling into the quarry in the Bo-Kaap.
Arthur said he had been resting in his makeshift home when he heard screams from the hill overlooking the quarry.
He said he did not see anyone chasing them and his concern was that the daughter was standing on the edge of the quarry. Arthur said a lot of people used the hill overlooking the quarry as a short cut between the CBD and Sea Point. He said there were instances in which people had been mugged, but not often.
Police spokesman Andre Traut said Mieny had been walking with her 26-year-old daughter when they were approached by a man with a knife. He said the incident happened after 7pm on Upper Strand Street in Bo-Kaap.
“The suspect grabbed the victim’s handbag and after a scuffle she slipped and fell down the quarry, which resulted in her death. The suspect fled with her handbag. The victim’s daughter managed to escape unharmed,” Traut said.
He said police were investigating a murder case but had yet to make an arrest.
In a statement, Mieny’s family said her daughter, Jasmin, was in a stable condition after being discharged from hospital. “She will be missed by all
her family and friends, and always be remembered for her beautiful smile and loving nature. She leaves behind her sister, two brothers, and daughter and life partner Johan Carstens, by whom she will be dearly missed.”
Mieny worked as an assistant product manager at Billabong head office in Jeffreys Bay. Co-worker Chad D’Arcy said they had worked together
for about nine years. He had also come to the concert, but with a different group.
“I only found out about the incident after the concert,” he said. “It is very sad for all of us. It’s still very shocking.”
Sales manager at Billabong in Jeffreys Bay, Russell Ashade, said Mieny had left on Friday to spend time with her daughter in the city and also enjoy the concert.
She had worked at the office for 18 years. “Everybody is taking her death hard,” Ashade said. “We are all devastated. She was a valuable member of our team and a lovely person.”
He said Mieny had planned to return to Jeffreys Bay today.
Ward 77 councillor Dave Bryant said the area, which was close to the Kraal informal settlement, was “quite dangerous at night”. “We have had a number of incidents emanating from the Kraal informal settlement,” Bryant said.
“We have raids there often.”
There had been incidents of crime reported in that area, but “this was the most dramatic in a long time”.
Anyone with information can call CrimeStop anonymously on 08600 10111 or SMS CrimeStop on 32211.
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